Gluten free Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 150g butter, chopped
• 6 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups hazelnut meal
• double cream, to serve

• Chocolate icing

• 300g dark chocolate, chopped
• 2/3 cup pure cream

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper.
2. Combine chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until thick and creamy. Add chocolate mixture. Beat to combine. Add hazelnut meal. Beat to combine.
4. Place eggwhites in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until soft peaks form. Using a metal spoon, stir one-third of eggwhites into chocolate mixture. Gently fold remaining eggwhite through chocolate mixture.
5. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. Make Chocolate icing: Place chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Spread over top and side of cake. Stand for 10 minutes or until icing has set. Serve with cream

Blueberry Lemon Cream Scones

Blueberry Lemon Cream Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
grated zest of a lemon or orange
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. fine salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, plus extra for brushing
1/2-1 cup fresh or frozen (don’t thaw them) blueberries
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, zest, baking powder, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to blend. Stir in the cream until you are able to gather it into a soft dough.
Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead a few times. Pat the dough about half an inch thick, scatter with berries and fold over to enclose them – do this a few times to trap all the berries, then pat into a circle about an inch thick. If you like, brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Cut into 8 wedges, and place them an inch or so apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Serve immediately. Makes 8 scones.

Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. can unpeeled apricots halves in syrup
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 maraschino cherries halved
1 cup all purpose or cake flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Drain apricots and reserve 2 Tbsp syrup. In a 9x1 1/2 in round pan melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and reserved syrup. Arrange apricots and put cherries between, cut side up. In a small mixing bowl stir together all dry ingredients.  Add milk butter, egg and vanilla.   Beat with a spoon or electric mixer until combined. Then beat another 2 minutes until smooth. Spread batter over apricots and cherries, smoothing out.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or toothpick comes out clean.  Cool then invert onto a serving plate. Serve Warm.. Serves 8

Lemon Chessecake Bars

2 Cups crushes graham crackers
6 Tbsp Butter
1 3oz package lemon flavored gelatin
3/ cups sugar
1 8oz package Philadelphia cream chesse ( must be philly)
1/2 tsp fine shredded lemon peel
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 13 oz. can evaporated milk ( ice cold)


Stir together graham crackers and melted butter reserve 1/3 cup for end. Press remaining into a 13x9 in pan. Bake crust for 88 min. in a 375 degree oven. Cool Completely..


Dissolve gelatin in 3/4 boiling water. Chill till syrupy.  In a small miser bowl gradually beat sugar into cream cheese,  Add lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla, beat evaporated milk till soft peaks form.  fold cream cheese mixture into whipped milk. Turn mixture into crust smooth and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Decorate with reserved graham crackers and candied lemon peel.


Candied Peel:
Add 1/2 cup sugar to 3/4 cup water bring to boil add lemon peel and reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat.  Remove peel curl by twisting half way and set aside, discard sugar mixture or use in lemonade instead of sugar. 




 

Out Door Tea with Homemade Tea Biscuits

Ingredients:	3 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 2 sticks (8oz) butter, softened 2 eggs, separated 1/2 cup orange juice 2 cans Solo raspberry filling Fillings: raisins, coarsely chopped walnuts, cinnamon sugar
Directions:	Make the dough: In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives, as for pie pastry. Add egg yolks, then orange juice. Knead until well blended. Make the tea biscuits: Divide dough into four pieces. Roll out one section of the dough to about 1/8 " thick to make a circle about 12" in diameter. Spread dough with some of the fruit filling, then sprinkle with nuts and raisins, covering entire piece of dough out to the edges. Roll up jellyroll-style and place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake and slice rolls: Heat oven to 350º. Beat egg whites lightly and brush over top and sides of each roll. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing crosswise into pieces of desired width.

Lemon Panna Cotta with Strawberry Raspberry Koolie

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 envelope unfavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp fine grated lemon zest
2 cups half & half
1 cup 2 percent Greek Yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Pour lemon juice into a large glass bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over and let stand until gelatin softens, about ten minutes.

In a saucepan, whisk sugar with lemon zest. Pour in half & half and yogurt, place over medium heat and cook, whisking until mixture is just simmering and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes (do not boil). Add gelatin mixture and vanilla and whisk until gelatin has dissolved. Transfer to a large measuring with a pour spout and divide among glasses, or cups. Refrigerate over night until firm.

Coolie

1 bag frozen unsweetened strawberries ( thawed)

1/2 bag frozen raspberries (thawed)

1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp of sugar

2 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp zest.

Mix all ingredients (except zest) in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and berries have released their juice. Lower heat and cook until thick whisking often. This should take about 5 minutes. Add the zest. Sieve into a clean bowl and cool.

Option:

Slowly melt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

with about 4 Tbsp heavy cream. Stir until smooth.

Just before serving option) drizzle chocolate around the sides. Top with coolie and serve with a couple of whole berries or a long julienne of lemon.